The Ballad Of Knight Shade: Chapter 1 and 2
by Beli Cantu
Summary: Twilight s visions grow stronger as Ponyville faces a new enemy right in the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration and this time magic will be tested.


**CHAPTER 1:TEA FOR ONE**.

"Twilee, Twilee..."said an eerie voice from beyond.

The night ruled the scene and a soft summer breeze made its way through Twilight's bedroom for it seemed to be whispering into her ear, "Twilee, Twilee,"it said.

The purple unicorn snuggled into her sheets trying to find some comfort for she knew well that these coming weeks would be extremely busy due to the preparations for yet another wonderful year of the Summer Sun Celebration. After all, a girl must her beauty sleep. Yet, as the night went on the voice lingered. "It's odd, though, how familiar it sounds..."

Twilight yawned and it felt so darn delightful for the pressure was wearing her out.

The next morning however she woke up a bit late. She came down the stairs stretching her legs feeling more than tired than before.

"Whoa, Twilight you look, kinda, kinda..." muttered Spike.

"Worn out?" she dared to complete his sentence.

"Yeah, this is not like you, had a bad night I presume."

Twilight quickly shook her tassled mane and managed to whip up a spell to comb it and straighten it as much as she could while staring at the mirror and speaking directly into it, "Not really, maybe it's all the excitement about the prepartions for the festival and all."

"Oh, c'mon, Twilight! It's not like it's the first time when we arrived to Ponyville, remember, besides you're the best organizer there is!" cheered Spike as he brought her the handsome backpack.

"Thanks, Spike," she grinned, "But somehow I've feeling this IS different."

"FEELING, what do you mean by FEELING?" said the purple dragon as he stood wide eyed and openly puzzled.

"YES! You know that there are all sorts of feelings yet others cannot be explained that easily, like sensing danger."

"OOOOOOOHHH!" cried Spike, "Like Pinkie Pie's twitchy tail?"

"Y-y-yeah kinda," replied Twilight slighty abashed and lowering her head.

"B-b-but I thought you said that was all just bunch of hooie!"

"Yess but I confess that I used to believe in it. That's I why I must go to Zecora's as soon as possible..."

"Oh, can I come with you?"

"I'm awfully sorry, Spike but I must attend this alone."

"Are you sure, even in the middle of summer the Everfree Forest is still an awfully creepy place."

The purple unicorn was beginning to get a tad upset with this last comment so Spike immediately tried to soften the situation by saying, "Oh, but I trust YOU completely Twilight, you're also REAL brave! Good luck!"

"All right! I'll be back by sundown...I hope," she said this last part to herself.

Twilight continued her way to visit Zecora. She always came with simple excuses such as drinking her favorite tea, which was of course Ruby Red, a kind only found in the zebra's native land and worked wonders for calming the nerves , on this occasion she was desperate to find an interpretation for her unusual dreams and who else but the striped one to explain the mysteries that even magic cannot unravel!

As soon as she tilted her head for a casual sunbathe while on Ponyville Twilight was instantly tackled by none other than those sweet little angels, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. One of them was carrying a shiny large roll of paper.

"TWILIGHT!" they all cried in unison. "Did you hear, did you hear?"

The wise unicorn shook her head for she was still kind of stuck between the dream world and reality.

"Good heavens, girls, what is it?"

"We're playing in the Summer Sun Music Festival!" they cried again.

"Yeah, only this time I'm gonna sing," said Sweetie Belle so proudly."Oh, but don't think that it's because we didn't enjoy Scootaloo's most excellent performance..."

"Oh, brother, here we go again..." mumbled the tiny orange pegasus.

"It's because we're taking turns!" said Apple Bloom. "That way we'll know who's the best singer and probably win a better prize so this time we can earn our cutie marks for sure."

"That's, that's great!" said Twilight feeling rather pleased, "I appreciate the team effort but are you girls SURE that this is what you want to do from now on?"

"Well, what else could it be, Twilight?" said Apple Bloom making faces and kicking the ground, "I want it to happen as soon as possible and this summer will be that time!"

"But remember the plan, Sweetie Belle," whispered Scootaloo in a very conspicuous manner.

"Oh right, but we'll get to that later, if possible."

"I'm really sorry, but I don't follow," continued Twilight.

"Well, it's because my sister Rarity knows a friend of a friend...of a friend..."

"Yes?" said Twilight again.

Sweetie Belle dabbled for she had forgotten how to mention Rarity's acquiantance. After, she was just a filly.  
>"Who knows Knight Shade!" and then she pointed to pictures of bands included in the lineup for the festival.<p>

"Oh, so that's why you're so excited, then, " said the graceful purple unicorn. "But who's Knight Shade?"

"Seriously, Twilight, you need to get out, Knight Shade happens to be one of the hottest singers in all of Equestria," cried Scootaloo. "He's our new inspiration."

"Just imagine when he sees our amazing performance..." said young Apple Bloom with wide eyes fantasizing and sighing, "We'll be able to see the world."

"Aren't you guys a little too young for that?" said Twilight rather unimpressed.

"Oh, c'mon, you're never too young when it comes to good old fashioned rock music," said Scootaloo proudly.

"In that case, good luck, little ponies, remember to practice hard..." she said as she slightly dragged her hooves. "I really must get going, important business, you know."

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Rockstars!" The cute and colorful fillies ran off leaving the flyer behind so Twilight casually had another peek. She rolled her eyes feeling shocked, "Wait a minute...isn't that...can it be..."

"Hey there, Miss Smartypants!"

Pinkie Pie landed on top of Twilight welcoming her in a very energetic manner. Once again the unicorn fought very hard to stay awake and regain consciousness.

"My, Pinkie Pie, what's the matter?" she said.

"Nothing, but whatcha doing today?" answered Pinkie in her maniacal sort of way and her adorable high pitched tone of voice...but in Twilight´s case it felt like an eager woodpecker knocking on her head.

"I-ah, was on my way to Zecora's to get some tea..."

"I'm making cupcakes!" cried the fuzzy pink pony.

"And?" said Twilight.

"I'm missing a special ingredient and it can only be found in the Everfree Forest so Applejack told me if you happened to stop by there you could help us get is so..."

"OK, hold your horses!"

"Can I come with you?" said Pinkie Pie frantically. "Pleasepleaseplease..." as she put her hooves together.

"You still-haven't learned your lesson, hey?" said Twilight Sparkle. After all this morning agitation she surrendered and decided to act generously, "I suppose, so what's all this fuzz about the special cupcakes anyway?"

"I thought you'd never asked." Pinkie Pie bounced and bounced with the same ease as a Slinky toy as she continued, "You see, Applejack and I are gonna be making this super-duper-looper extra special cupcakes for the Summer Sun Music Festival. A.J. insisted after she found out that the goody four shoes at Canterlot weren't good customers she thought, "What about the Summer Sun Music Festival?" All kinds of goodies will be there so this time she'll make excellent business for sure to help Sweet Apple Acres."

"Wow, that's so very generous of you."

"Indeedy doo, I'm always there for a good cause."

As they got deeper and deeper into the heart of the infamous and feared Everfree Forest a wild roar of thunder invaded the place which made it even more stressing to walk upon.-

"Uh, oh..." said Pinkie very lightly. "The sky is feeling cranky, huh?"

"Well, a little rain wouldn't hurt anybody..." said Twilight in a more optimistic sort of way.

"We're not in Ponyville anymore, remember?" shouted Pinkie mocking Twilight's words.

"Pinkie, everything's alright, it's just..."

Suddenly the purple unicorn's words were cut short after a rampaging sound was heard. Pinkie instinctively jumped on top of Twilght and squished her as much as she could but she did let her see where she was going.

"Will you cut it out! Hey," she said, "your tail is twitching."

"Well, d-d-duh," said the earth pony stuttering, "b-b-because it´s sensing DANGER!"

"Relax, you're with me now."

The thunder reprised.

"I think I see Zecora's cottage so let's go in, shall we?"

"I don't know Twilight, this tail is acting awf-f-ful strange..."

"We have no choice, besides I'm getting my hooves all muddy, oh," said Twilight as she fought to avoid getting soaked. Together, the once colorful now dimmed ponies rushed to Zecora's soaked to the bone.

Upon their arrival both noticed that the place looked rather empty. Pinkie wringed herself until she became poofier than normal she practically resembled a sheepdog.

"Is there anyone in here, hello..." whispered Twilight.

"Enchantress lady!" yelled Pinkie, "Come out come out wherever you are."

Lightning bathed the scene and revealed for a matter of seconds some of Zecora's masks. Twilight felt slightly shocked but in Pinkie's case she became incredibly startled.

"Y-E-O-W!" she cried.

"For the last time, relax will you, it's only a mask, it can't do you any harm," said Twilight trying to stay focused on the reason why she had gone there in the first place and not some wild goose chase.

Lightning struck once again only this time it revealed a pair of gleaming eyes like fireflies and a confident smile...

"SIT!"

Twilight felt her heart beating as if it wanted to escape from her tiny body. Still, she knew well THAT wasn't anything to be really scared of, it was good old Zecora.

"Ha, thank heavens it´s you, dear..." she said comforted.

"I SAID SIT!" shouted the striped one energetically as she ordered the ponies to join her for her usual red tea drinking. So the little ponies had no better choice but to sit down on the wooden table.

"What a weird way to treat houseguests," said Pinkie in a lower tone upset and giving a menacing look.

Zecora handed out a tiny handsomely decorated ceramic cup which oozed an inviting fragance.

"Ruby Red, I suppose," she said in a very africanized voice.

"Oooh, that looks delicious, you wouldn´t happen to have any cookies to go with that?" said Pinkie smiling. However, it was Twilight's turn to have at least a sip of the herbal tea. It wasn't so much about the taste; it was about what happened next.

Suddenly the cloud of vapor from the cup began to take all sorts of shapes, like iddy biddy ghosts prancing in the middle of the night.

"EXCELLENT!" said the zebra pressing her hooves together.

"oooooohhhhh..." said Pinkie Pie. "Neat trick!"

"Shhhh, it's a reading, just remain quiet."

"I see...is it good then?"

"NO, NO IT'S NOT GOOD!" shouted the striped one.

Twilight yelped and began to get really nervous feeling a drop of cold sweat coming from her temple.

"Why?" the unicorn dared.

"Oh, enough with the horror show, will ya?" cried Pinkie notably fed up with the nonsense she was taking part of; even for someone like this seemed like a load of hooie.

"Bad dreams you've been having lately, have you not?" said Zecora addressing Twilight.

"YES, I have!" she responded politely.

"An answer I see you seek, come now these nightmares I must peek ..." she began in a narrating voice. "Visions are common even among pony folk yet most of them they ignore and think it's a joke."

"Oh," said Twilight, "Visions, is that what they are?"

Zecora gasped, "Every now and then some choose to respect and when they do it's something they won't regret."

"See, I told you that you were too square, Twilight," interrupted Pinkie. "You should pay more attention to hunches."

"The pony in pink does not tell lies, the truth is before your very eyes..."

"OK, fine, I get that there is a certain amount of truth in dreams but how'd you know about these things, Pinkie?"

"Ha, oh Twilight, that's a very ancient story..."

"It is?" she said suprised.

"IT IS!" reprised Zecora. "You'll have to accept these visions as they arrive , for someday they'll help you save you life...oh, and Twilight, another thing you must fear..."

"Another?" said the unicorn feeling naturally scared.

"Beware, you ponyfolk, some friends will disappear while others will reappear. Search for the truth you must and learn well about trust. Now be gone!"

Zecora adopted an upside down position only supported by tip of her cane while she chanted in her native tongue.

"Meh-le, meh-le..."

And so they left.

"Oh, how nice," said Twilight feeling refreshed, "the rain stopped."

"I love it when Zecora talks in riddles, don't you, huh?" said Pinkie carelessly.

"As peculiar as it may have sounded I'm afraid that wasn't just a riddle, Pinkie...it was a warning..."

"'Bout what?"

"That something terrible is about to happen, the problem is what?...Oh Dear."

At this point Twilight knew that continuing the conversation with her festive friend wasn't going to make things ANY easier, but her head was already bubbling with many possible outcomes to a terrible situation so that she'd be prepared to face this new enemy.

"Oh, Twilight!" Pinkie cried. "You worry too much, if anything turns out the WRONG way that's why we have the Elements of Harmony, they helped us to beat the EVIL Nightmare Moon..."

"Yes..." said the purple unicorn thoughtful.

"Well, see ya! Gotta make CUPCAKES! tralalalalala!"

Twilight felt intimidated by Pinkie Pie's incredible confidence she wondered if there was something else about her that made her outstand from the rest of the ponyvillians.

And it was then that for a spilt second she remembered someone else from long ago who was just as brave as that whimsical character.

**CHAPTER 2:THE DREAM**

The delicate blanket of the night came down on Ponyville and the weather felt so refreshing enhancing the smell of the moistened tree bark. The graceful unicorn trotted and hurried back to her provisional tree home in the library thrilled to hunt for a book she had never seen in ages. She even threw her backpack on the way in from all the excitement and scanned the bookshelves like a hungry hawk.

Her baby dragon companion came down the stairs with a tray of chunky vanilla chocolate chip cookies; as soon as he caught a glimpse of Twilight causing a big commotion he bothered to ask if she needed any help and she just nodded without even looking at him. Spike was beginning to get very uneasy for being ignored he mouthed softly, "Twilight, um Twilight...

TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"

"Oh, hi there, number one assistant and pal, what's up?"

"For Celestia's sake, just tell me what book are you looking for and I'll help you."

The pony lowered her head to appologize, "Ok...I appreciate the help but...I don't think you'll remember this one, it was such a LONG time ago."

"why, there's nothing I can't find, unless Owlalicious here knows better," he said as he turned to the teeny golden brown owl, "but I dunno, I've known you since I practically hatched from the egg, Twilight, why wouldn't you trust me now?"

"There's that word again, TRUST, hmm," said Twilight to herself, "I think I'll try to explain..."

"How did it go with Zecora, she didn't talk into doing evilwitchcraft, did she?" said Spike wide eyed.

"NO, of course not! You see," said Twilight as she sat down to make a pause, after all, it had been a crazy afternoon. "The reason why I visit her most of the time it's because I'm struggling to unravel some dreams. I had them for years but with all my studying and reports about the magic of friendship I completely forgot about them.

When I was a little filly I used to ask mom for advice and she always said, "Well dear, magical creatures are prone to have a big imagination so it becomes easier for us to dream about all sorts of things. The closer you come to someone else who is magical will make you have more special moments. That's why when I used to attend the Summer Sun Celebration I knew well that Princess Celestia and I had that sort of connection."

"I wasn't aware that unicorns had that ability!" cried Spike.

Twilight continued, "We have special gifts indeed but they also carry certain consequences. When I approached Her Highness she explained to me that this was also normal and that I should be able to embrace as time went by. And so I did."

"Who?" went Owlalicious.

"What's the point with this story, you mean?"

"WHOOOO, WHOOOO!" said the owl flapping its wings.

"Oh, good, well, um, so far Zecora and Pinkie Pie are of those few ponies who remind me of those special creatures that I connect with through intuition or the power of dreams. I am fully aware that it does exist yet it's a kind of magic that even sometimes I cannot control."

"And that's why you visit Zecora all the time?" asked Spike.

"Absolutely!"

"And what does that have to do with the book again?"

"There is a word to describe THAT kind of magic but I'm jogging my memory and I can't remember! It's like it's blocked, I can recall zillions of things I did yesterday and the days before but not this one."

"Like when you lose something and then you realize it was in front of you all the time?" said Spike trying to be a smartass.

"Maybe..."Auuuuummmm," she yawned, "I guess I'll have to sort it out in my sleep." She climbed the stairs into her cozy bedroom.

"Nighty night!" said Spike, "Boy, that girl really works hard, doesn't she?" he said to Owlalicious who perched on top of his head.

"WHOOOOOO?"

"Good grief, I wish I knew what you're hooting about, oh well..."

The tiny owl scurried and perched on the branch of the tree pretending to safeguard Twilight's sleep.

As the cold made it was into the night so did a strange calm and silence. A playful breeze followed. The window was slightly opened in Twilight's bedroom and occassionally knocked. As she noticed that she tossed and turned and gave off a slight hum, "nom nom," something like that.

This sort of breeze didn't seem to have come from the pegasus ponies who controlled the weather, at least in the heart of Ponyville. There was something peculiar about it that even the birds noticed as they began to get startled. The tiny brown owl shook his head and his tailfeathers feeling disgusted. It was then when he instinctively acted to knock on Twilight's window.

"WHOOOOOO, WHOOOOOO, WHOOOOOO, WHOOOOOO!" he cried.

The unicorn also responded in a rehearsed tone of voice," no, not interested in any apples today, sorry," and snuggled into her fluffy sheets.

"WHOOOOOO, WHOOOOOO, WHOOOOOO, WHOOOOOO!" cried Owlalicious this time louder.

"Please, can't this wait until morning?" replied Twilight. "All this rapping is making me..."

Suddenly the window was fully opened. A red tinted gust surrounded the bed and began to spin violently. Twilight's pupils shrunk as she began to enter a sort of trance. Her entire body felt stiff and was literally stuck to the bed. It seemed the wind had a life of its own but it was kind enough to Twilight and rocked her back and forth until she felt completely relaxed. So it began to whisper her name slowly,

"twilee,twilee,the music...it's in the music..."

"The music..." she said possessed, "I sure do like music." Twilight practically began to walk in her sleep and decided to play along. The crimson wind took a familiar shape of a tiny colt with a cropped tail, at this moment it did look like a ghost. The unicorn floated in thin air several feet above the ground and flew out of her bedroom into the midnight sky. The tiny owl noticed the mysterious presence and didn't want to miss any single detail.

"Twilee..."

"Where are we going?" she asked naively.

The two graceful figures swirled and swirled in the air, round and round they went drawing spirals until the one in red said,

"stop..." whispering.

They landed right at Carousel Boutique, Rarity's house only this time the place was practically empty. Twilight thought she would find her poshy unicorn friend,

"Rarity? Hello, is anyone home?" her voice sounded as weak as an echo, "Rarity?"

Little by little the floor felt as wobbly as quicksand and Twilight slowly sank into it. As as she was freefalling she contemplated the sad faces of ponies with their coats all dimmed and muted. She didn't say a word, she just watched in awe.

From the ground grew a voracious set of vines bursting with thick spines frightening what seemed to be several unicorns such as Lyra, Rarity and her little sister. The vines trapped them and there was no apparent way to escape or go through.

"Twilight, IS that you dear?" said the angelic voice of Rarity. "Run away before it gets you TOO!"

"I´m not leaving you!" she shouted fiercely. "You´re my best friends, remember?"

"Run away Twilight!" yelled Lyra. "It´s gonna be OK, don´t worry ´bout us, SAVE YOURSELF!"

"B-b-but..."

"Twilee, it´s alright, you´re a big girl now, I must leave..."

The purple unicorn turned away for a while after she heard a familiar phantasmagorical voice.

"No, don´t leave, don´t leave, I hate goodbyes, come back! Bree!"

(continued)...


End file.
